Inheritance
by JenniferJF
Summary: NOW COMPLETE. We inherit a lot from our families - both who and what we are. But in the end, the most important thing is that they'll be there whenever and wherever we need them to be.
1. In the Here

She stood with them on the beach under the darkening sky, watching the flames dance upon the water, consuming the makeshift funeral pyre. And how very fitting, she thought, that he should be given a Viking funeral. For his coming had brought death and destruction as surely as had those warriors of old. But now that man was gone as if he truly had died, purged and cleansed in the fire that even now licked over what remained of his body. Or what passed for his body.

Because, of course, the Doctor wasn't dead; that wasn't his body. The impossible astronaut hadn't murdered him. She'd married him.

Only that wasn't the only secret River knew.

This close, their emotions so raw, she could feel them all so intensely. Her parents, still unaware of her as anything more than the strange and slightly scary prisoner River Song who might, or might not, have married the Doctor. They still had no real idea of who she was imprisoned for murdering, let alone that they had just seen her kill their best friend. Supposedly.

Not that Amy was even _there_. Not really. Though, in the grand scheme of things, at that moment it hardly mattered. Yet it was also the most important thing in the universe. At least for her, the daughter her mother would never even know she carried until moments before her birth.

Yet even those weren't _all_ River's secrets.

Because right there, at that moment, standing there on that beach, it was that last one which gave her the most comfort. Which promised that, in the end, all the lies and sacrifices – the loss of so much that might have been – were worth the cost.

Living proof that this was really the beginning and not the end.

River looked past the three people the Doctor trusted more than any others, out over the husk of a robot smoldering upon the water, up into the darkening sky and the universe beyond, and remembered...


	2. First Remembering

"Sweetie?" she gasped between breaths. "What on _earth_ did you say to him?"

He glanced across at her as they ran. "Nothing. Much."

"I thought you were just going to distract him while I broke into the safe."

"I did."

She looked over her shoulder at the armored soldiers rushing down the corridor behind them. "Good job," she observed.

He grinned sheepishly. "Who knew 'weather' had an alternate meaning for the Kalarhi?" When she opened her mouth to point out that she, in fact, did, he continued, "Oh...shut up."

Despite their situation, and the fact their pace was leaving her uncharacteristically short of breath, she couldn't help but laugh. "At least I managed my part." She held up the case which contained the only known samples of the nanovirus Commander Catar had been using to hold his world hostage. "You've saved another one, dear."

"_We've _saved another one," he corrected her. A blaster bolt smashed into the wall next to him and he risked another glance behind them. "Though I will admit I'd feel better about it if we weren't being shot at. Again."

River grabbed his hand and pulled him around the corner; the TARDIS stood before them. As they skidded to a halt in front of it, the Doctor snapped his fingers and they pushed inside. She pulled the door shut behind them as he rushed to the console and slammed the lever home to dematerialize the ship.

He was fiddling with the controls – he would have said adjusting, but she knew better – as she slowly climbed the stairs to join him. She leaned into the console, strangely light-headed after their escape.

The Doctor glanced at her sharply. "You okay?"

She nodded and took a deep breath to steady her breathing. "Yeah. I'm fine."

He continued to watch her closely. "You sure?"

She nodded again. "Yeah." Then, straightening back up, she smiled at him. "See?"

After another intense look so brief she might have imagined it, he returned her smile. "Good." Then, pointing to the box she still held, he continued, "Now, let's get rid of that and then, Doctor Song, tea and bed?"

She laughed and took a step closer to him. "Oh. Absolutely." Then, reaching up to slowly pull loose one end of his tie, she suggested, "Only... You know... Not necessarily in that order."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The next morning – or what passed for morning on the TARDIS – River woke to find her husband had already left their bed. Since she didn't really feel up to eating at the moment, she skipped the kitchen and headed straight to the console room. He was there, working the controls. Of course. "So, back to prison for me then?" she asked.

He looked across at her, seeming momentarily confused. "What?"

She pointed toward the doors. "Stormcage?"

He shook his head distractedly before turning back to the monitor hanging in front of him. "Oh. No. Not Stormcage. Not for awhile, at least," he mumbled, wringing his hands together.

"Why ever not?"

His face popped out from behind the monitor and he stared at her for a full moment before breaking into a huge grin. "Because, dearest River," he explained, laughing in delight as he spun the screen around so she could see her full body scanned on its display, "You're pregnant."


	3. Second Remembering

They'd gone back and forth on it for so long she'd started to think she'd win by default. He'd finally even conceded that maybe the Sisters of the Infinite Schism themselves weren't absolutely necessary, but he'd continued to insist on _someone_ with medical expertise in interplanetary genetics until she was almost into her second trimester. By then, they'd rented a small house in Stanwell in 2021 and she'd already had several appointments with a local physician, an old experienced family doctor who'd seen everything – or thought he had – and whom she'd liked and trusted from the moment she'd met him.

Eventually, she'd won the argument only by convincing the Doctor that the danger to their child should anyone even suspect he or she existed was greater than the dangers of twenty-first century Earth medicine. Or lack of it, as he was always quick to remind her. Of course, it probably didn't hurt that by then he'd studied the blood test results and the early ultrasounds and had enough interaction with Doctor Adams himself to begin to believe more specialized care might not really be necessary.

And, most importantly of all, by then he'd felt their baby kick.

So Doctor John Smith and his wife Jessica dutifully saw Doctor Adams once a month, and then once a week. And then they were preregistering at St. Peter's and stashing a packed suitcase in the hall cupboard.

It was all so normal and domestic. Except for the blue box in the spare room. Though by then even short trips had become infrequent as she more than most knew how quickly rumors could spread.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

They'd wandered down this same corridor more times than she could begin to count. Actually, they'd traveled _every_ corridor more times than River truly cared to contemplate, and they were all beginning to look the same. At first, they'd walked side by side, his hand in hers the only support she'd needed. He had babbled on incessantly next to her, discussing everything and anything from the dangers of circumnavigating dwarf stars in twenty-third century Earth starliners to the best way to prepare beef roast, keeping her mind occupied while her body worked.

Then even the Doctor had fallen silent as her labor progressed, his presence the only comfort she'd wanted or needed as her pain increased; between contractions, they'd continued their endless walk. Now, though, well into her ninth hour of active labor, she shuffled more than walked, his arm around her shoulders adding his strength to hers.

She gasped and stopped mid-step as a particularly strong contraction tore through her. He pulled her into his arms and she leaned against him, riding it out.

"That was strong," he observed as the contraction passed.

She took a deep faltering breath. "Yeah."

"You okay?"

She nodded against his chest. "Yeah," she repeated. Then, as another contraction followed, just moments after the last, "But we need to get back to the room."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

He stood at her bedside, the blanket-wrapped bundle of their son held in his arms, lost in the newborn's infinite gaze. One tiny hand reached up, grabbing for the lock of his father's hair which dangled tantalizingly close, and the Doctor laughed with delight as the child caught it.

The Doctor glanced down at River, his eyes dancing. "He's perfect."

And, looking up at him, feeling the joy flowing out from him to encompass their child, and her, and the rest of the entire _universe..._Well. She couldn't have agreed more.


	4. Third Remembering

While his childhood was anything but ordinary, River always hoped that, from his perspective at least, most of the differences between his life and that of his friends went unnoticed. It wasn't as if he didn't have at least one of his parents, and often both of them, home whenever he was. Which was actually better than many children had it.

Johnny – for that was the name he went by even though it wasn't truly _his_ – had no way of knowing, of course, that the mother who straightened his tie as he headed out to school in the morning was often several years older than the mother who helped him with his school work later that night. Or that the father sitting next to him watching the football match was remembering the first time he'd seen it with a woman who had been Johnny's mother for years but whom he himself hadn't even married yet. Or that, while his baby sister was only two years younger than him, fifteen years had passed for his mother between their births; their father had been several months younger at her conception than at his.

Time travel. It could all get very confusing very quickly. But as long as it never affected the children's lives directly, she assumed it wouldn't harm them. After all, in the end, it was the love and the memories which mattered.

She knew that better than most.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sitting there on the patio, her children asleep in the house behind her, the clear night sky overhead bright with stars... Of all the places River had ever lived, with the possible exception of the TARDIS herself, this one above all others truly felt like _home_.

A soft shuffling warned her that she was no longer alone and she looked to find Johnny standing in the doorway behind her, bare toes sticking out from beneath the worn hem of his pajama pants. At least this time, though, he'd remembered to put on his dressing gown before venturing outside. "Trouble sleeping?" she asked.

He nodded silently.

She gestured to her lap. "Well, c'mon, then." Needing no further invitation, Johnny darted forward and clambered up. "Any reason in particular?" she asked once he had settled himself in her arms

He shook his head, soft brown curls tickling her chin as he moved. "No. Not really. Just... funny dreams again."

"About what?"

He shrugged against her chest. "I dunno. Stuff."

"Scary stuff?" she pressed.

"No. _Weird_."

"Ah..." She'd been over this with him before, as had his father. And she and the Doctor had discussed it between themselves, of course. Johnny was beginning to see and understand the workings of time and space itself, all the causes and effects and possible consequences of everything happening all around him all the time. The Time Lord's awareness that was his birthright asserting itself as he grew older. For now, though, these insights seemed limited to his unconscious mind, inserting themselves into his dreams. Eventually they would bleed through into his waking mind and they'd be forced to tell him who and what he was. To train him to use his knowledge and control his understanding before it could drive him insane.

But they were both in agreement. Not now. Nine was still far too young.

"Anything you care to share?" she asked after a minute.

He thought about it before shaking his head. "No."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"No... I mean... Maybe. Yes. I guess so."

She couldn't completely control her soft chuckle at the conflict between the little boy he was and the adult he wanted to become. "What?"

"Tell me a story?" he asked.

"Which one?"

"You know which one, Mummy," he admitted quietly.

She didn't even try to hide her amusement this time; he was beginning to think of the story as belonging to his childhood but wasn't quite prepared to leave it behind. "The Dalek and the wizard?"

He gratefully returned her smile. "Yeah."

As he settled back into her arms to listen, she began to speak: "Once upon a time, there was a very _very_ good wizard, who lived in a magical tree with leaves as blue as the ocean..."

She could tell the story almost without thinking about it; it had been his favorite for years. After nearly half-an-hour, realizing he'd fallen asleep in her arms, she slowly trailed off.

"And then what happened?"

She twisted 'round to smile at the man who'd come up behind her to listen quietly to the last half of her story. "They all lived happily ever after?" she suggested.

The Doctor stepped forward out of the shadows and leaned down to plant a kiss on their sleeping son's brow. "For now," he agreed, straightening up and smiling down at her. Then he gathered their child up into his arms and started back toward the house.

River smiled as she stood up and followed him. Because he was right, of course. And sometimes the simplest _now_ was more precious than the grandest adventure.


	5. Fourth Remembering

They set him down at the kitchen table on his fourteenth birthday, after the younger kids were in bed, and told him the truth, all the truth, of who and what he was. Of who and what they all were.

He sat quietly when they were finished speaking.

"You okay, sweetie?" River asked after a minute.

Jack – for he went by Jack now, having decided at the mature age of twelve that 'Johnny' was a child's name – nodded. "Yeah. I guess so." Then, after yet another minute, he continued, "So... Can I see it? I mean... Like... Can we actually _go _somewhere in it?"

The Doctor laughed and exchanged a look with River. "Of course. Though you might want to call her 'she'. _She_ can be rather touchy about that sort of thing."

"_And _she's been looking forward to meeting you your whole life," River added.

"Really?"

His father nodded. "Yup."

"When?"

Now it was River's turn to laugh as a loud groaning whine filled the room and a large blue box slowly materialized in the corner of the kitchen; Jack's eyes grew as big as saucers as he looked at it. "How about now?" she asked.

He was out of his seat and across the room before the TARDIS had fully stabilized, his father close on his heels. At the door, Jack turned back to River, who remained seated. "Aren't you coming?" he asked.

She smiled. "I'll be there. I _was_ there."

He looked at her for a minute before his face broke into a grin. "Time travel, right?"

"Yup."

"How?"

River laughed and nodded toward the TARDIS. "Who do you think's flying her?" she asked.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Jack made it less than a meter inside the TARDIS doors before stopping and staring around, eyes wide and mouth open.

"So... How'd it go?" River asked from where she stood at the console.

The Doctor smiled at her over the boy's head. "Spoilers. Anyway, you'll find out soon enough yourself."

She rolled her eyes. Not like the answer wasn't obvious from Jack's attitude. Though they'd assumed he'd be okay. Children were nothing if not resilient.

Turning to their son, her husband asked, "So... Any comments you'd like to make? Any observations"

A huge grin broke across Jack's face as he pulled his attention away from the ship around him to look up at his dad. "It's..._Cool_!"

River laughed as the Doctor ruffled the boy's hair. "And that, son," he said, not even attempting to hide his pride, "Might just be the best response _anyone's_ ever had."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"And then you set this one," the Doctor explained, pointing to the number dial, "to the date, pull this, and... Geronimo!"

The TARDIS lurched violently as the Doctor flung home the final lever. Jack and River grabbed onto the console for support. "Dad?" Jack asked.

"Yes, son?" The Doctor looked up at him from where he'd been thrown to the floor by the ship's final violent shudder.

As the TARDIS stabilized around him, Jack glanced quickly at River before looking back at his father. "Would it be okay..." His voice trailed off as River shook her head at him.

"Would what be okay?" the Doctor pressed, having missed the exchange as he'd scrambled back to his feet.

Jack bit his lip nervously before continuing, "Well...Dad...I was kinda wondering... Would you mind terribly much if maybe Mum taught me to fly her instead?

And River had really hoped _neither_ of them had seen her hit the blue stabilizers.


	6. Fifth Remembering

She was sitting on her small bed in Stormcage, catching up on a few archeology journals she'd been too busy to get to yet, when the sound of the TARDIS dematerializing split the silence. She'd unlocked her prison and was waiting at the TARDIS doors before the ship had fully solidified. Her unread journals were just going to have to keep on waiting.

"Hello, sweetie," she said, stepping inside and turning to close the doors behind herself.

"Hi, Mum."

She spun 'round to find Jack standing next to his father at the controls. "Hey, kid." It had been several weeks – from her perspective – since she'd last run into both of them together. Jack looked significantly older than he had then, and she wondered how long it had been for him.

As if he had read her thoughts, and he might have, for she wasn't shielding, Jack said, "Don't worry, Mum. I'm still just twenty-two." He smiled proudly. "Turns out, you're not the only one who can change his or her age at will."

She laughed as she climbed the stairs to join father and son at the controls. As the Doctor danced around the console, sending the TARDIS spinning back into the vortex, she asked their son, "So, what else have you two been up to since I saw you last?"

Jack grinned. "That depends on _when_ you last saw us, doesn't it?"

"6384. Vantara VI."

He thought for a minute. "The Dominators?"

She nodded. "Yeah. You dropped that Quark into its own excavation hole...?"

He laughed. "I remember."

"How could he forget?" her husband called out from behind the time rotor. "It almost shot him."

"It was on its back," Jack reminded him. "It's not like it was actually going to hit me. Besides, we get shot at all the time."

The Doctor popped quickly back around the side of the console, his finger to his lips as he glanced warily at River. "Shhh... I thought we'd discussed..."

River laughed. "Don't worry, sweetie. I _do_ know what kind of trouble you tend to get into."

He grinned sheepishly as he came to stand next to her. "It's not so much _trouble_," he explained, slipping one arm around her waist and pulling her against him. He gestured broadly in the air with his free hand as he continued, "More like, irresistible opportunities to eradicate injustice."

"Or alleviate suffering," Jack added.

"Yes. Exactly." He nodded approvingly at his son before turning back to River. "See? Alleviating suffering. That's good. Right?"

She rolled her eyes. "To explore strange new civilizations and annoy them?" she suggested, misquoting an old TV show from her own childhood.

They both laughed. "Something like that," the Doctor admitted. "Sometimes. But not always."

She smiled at him. "I know. Not always." Their eyes met, and she knew that, despite her teasing – maybe, in fact, _because_ of her teasing – he understood. She was never worried, not really, about their son's safety while with him; there was nowhere else in the universe she'd rather have him be than at his father's side. Just as there was nowhere else in the universe she'd rather be.

Only for her it wasn't possible. Not all the time.

They broke eye contact. Her voice shaking only a little, she asked him, hands hovering over the controls,"So, where we off to?"

Because, of course, while they might never have forever, at least they would always have _now_.


	7. Sixth Remembering

"Mummy?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Tell Claire, _Muffin's_ meant to sit next to Annabelle. Spot sits across the table."

Since the table in question was an old blanket spread out upon the garden grass, and the tea guests were a mixed menagerie of dolls and stuffed toys, River chose not to get involved. "Dear, don't you think the two of you might try working it out for yourselves?"

Sarah skipped back across the lawn to where her younger sister was reordering their toys yet again. "She said to put Muffin there," she directed, pointing at the empty space next to a large bonneted doll.

"No. She did not!" Claire protested.

"Yes. She did!"

Her attention was drawn away from the little girls' argument at the sound of footsteps on the walk behind her. Turning, she found a young man approaching from the direction of the house. A young man she didn't recognize, with a vortex manipulator strapped to his wrist.

Every muscle tensed instantly; she stood up and turned to face the man, reaching out her senses...

And recognized him.

"Jack?"

His face broke into a grin, familiar even on a stranger's face. "Hello, Mum."

"What on earth...?"

His smile twisted slightly, and he dug his hands in his pockets. Too casually. "Yes. Well... Daleks. You know how much trouble they can be."

"You _regenerated_? Didn't we tell you to call us if you got into trouble?"

"There wasn't time. Besides, it came out alright. In the end. You should be proud," he suggested hopefully. She arched an eyebrow at him and he laughed. "Really, Mum."

Because she knew some things were incurable – and inevitable, she pulled him in for a hug rather than scolding further. "So, how have you been otherwise?" she asked as he stepped back out of her embrace.

"Fine. Great, really. I've got a _job_."

"You?" she asked, unable to believe it.

"For the _government_." He sounded unable to believe it himself.

"What on earth are you _doing_?"

"Special agent," he explained proudly. "It's great fun. Figured it was a good way to get some additional specialized training."

"And...?"

"Experience?"

"And...?" she repeated. River wasn't his mother for nothing; she could tell an evasion when she heard one.

"And...yeah...," he finally admitted, blushing slightly. "There _is _this bloke..."

"Is he hot?"

"Mum!"

River laughed. "Well, _is_ he?" she pressed, despite his embarrassment. Maybe even because of it. She _was_ his mother, after all.

He smiled. "Yeah, Mum. He is."

"Good for you, then." She returned his smile. "Agent Jack. Who'd have thought it?"

"Actually, Mum, I've changed–"

"River?" the Doctor asked, coming up behind them and interrupting his son. "Who's this?"

They both swung 'round to look at him. River laid her hand on their son's arm. "It's Jack, dear. Can't you tell? He's regenerated."

The Doctor stared at his son's new face for a second. "Dad? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." His face broke into a grin. "Nothing at all."


	8. Seventh Remembering

The phone rang. Several times.

"If someone doesn't get here to answer that _right __now_," River called down the still empty corridor outside her cell, "I won't be held responsible..." The sound of footsteps echoed down the passageway and a guard ran into view. "Oh. There you are."

He gave her a dark look as he stepped to the wall and picked up the handset. "Hello? Yes? Of course. Just one minute." The guard walked over to where River waited at the bars and handed her the phone.

She smiled sweetly at the guard and stepped back a few feet to give herself some semblance of privacy before speaking. "Doctor?"

"River?"

"Of course, sweetie." At least the connection was strong.

"Thank god it's you this time."

"This time?"

"Yes. Well. Never mind. More on that later. For now... Can you write this down?"

She grabbed her diary and a pen from off the nearby shelf. "Yeah. Go on." She scribbled as he spoke: 2138-621x20012-Z. Then, because while she hadn't memorized every set of coordinates in the universe, she could recognize some better than others, she asked, "What on earth are you doing in Paris? Without me?"

"Add that to the 'later' list. For now, just get to the TARDIS. She'll have more information for you. Oh. And... River?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Please hurry. I don't think the prison guards like my bow-tie."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

For River, breaking into any prison, but especially a relatively primitive French prison, was fairly easy. "Hello, sweetie," she said, walking up to join him at the bars. She gestured around at the guards slumped about the room. "Look what a mess you've gotten yourself into. And I've missed half the fun." She pouted. "If you were planning on a spot of larceny, you know, you might have let me in on it earlier."

He grinned sheepishly. "Yes. Well, actually, I tried. The TARDIS called the wrong number. Apparently." He waved to his fellow prisoner standing toward the back of the cell. "His."

River had assumed the two men had been locked up together for convenience. As the man stepped forward and the light hit his features, however, she realized who he was...

Before she could even open her mouth to speak, though, her son shook his head slightly and put his fingers to his lips. His unspoken warning whispered through her mind, letting her know it was far too early in the Doctor's time stream.

Their eyes met briefly, acknowledging her understanding, before she turned her attention back to her husband. Or, more accurately, the man who would _become _her husband. "And so you ran off on an adventure with...?" she waved towards Jack.

"Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time," the Doctor explained, too absorbed in recounting his own adventure to notice her hint. "How was I to know the French government wouldn't care what kind of an agent he was as long as he wasn't one of _theirs_? And by then, we had the Mona Lisa – well, not the Mona Lisa, but they didn't know it wasn't the real painting... _any_ of the real paintings, actually... but a trigger to the explosives in the..." He broke off and took a deep breath before continuing, "Well, anyway, the point is, by then, it was in our hands and the alarms were going off, and what with all the running and shouting and threatening and waving about of guns, they really didn't give us much of a chance to explain, now, did they?" He turned to his companion for confirmation.

Jack nodded and shrugged his shoulders. "Not really, no."

River rolled her eyes. "Okay. Lets just get you two out of here and we can sort the rest out later." She quickly picked the lock and threw open the door for them. "There is one thing, though..." She glanced expectantly at her son.

The Doctor clapped his hands together. "Oh. Right." He waved a hand at River. "Doctor River Song, allow me to introduce United States Special Agent Canton Everett Delaware the Third. FBI. You haven't met him yet... but you will."

"Spoilers?" River suggested, smiling.

The Doctor returned her smile. "Yes. Exactly. Spoilers." He glanced 'round nervously. "Now, let's get out of here before these guys start waking up."

As they turned to leave, she could _feel_ the kid laughing as he followed after.

And, really, who could blame him?


	9. And Now

River was pulled back into the present, the here and now of Utah in 2011, as Rory left the water to join them on the sand. She could feel Amy's grief, raw and wild, coursing just beneath the surface of her control. There was no point in continuing the charade any further. It was hurting her mother too much.

Breaking the silence, she turned to the old man at her side. "Who are you? Why did you come?"

"Same reason as you." His answer might have been the truest thing anyone had said all day. Whatever the Doctor's reason for inviting him – that younger Doctor hidden inside the Tessalecta who'd only _thought_ he'd been in control – she knew he'd come, ultimately, for the same reason she had.

Their eyes met briefly as they compared envelopes, the corners of his mouth turning up in just the slightest hint of a smile, and she knew he understood. And then, he was saying his goodbyes and heading back up the hill.

River stood silently for a minute, watching him go. His final words still echoed in her ears: "Doctor Song... Amy... Rory... I'm Canton Everett Delaware the Third. I won't be seeing you again, but...you'll be seeing me."

When it came right down to it, River had to admit...

The kid could lie just as well as his old man.


End file.
